Boeing lead consortium develops floating platform to launch rockets - March 28, 1999. This is quoted from an MSNBC article:
"Positioning the platform at the equator takes advantage of basic planetary physics: Because the earth's rotational force is greatest at the equator, “you kind of get a running start from there,” says Terrance Scott, a Sea Launch spokesman. Also, because most of the satellites originating from Sea Launch will travel in a fixed orbit above the equator, Sea Launch can use less fuel to get them to their destination. Alternatively, Sea Launch can boost satellites into high orbits where they tend to have a long useful life. “The bottom line for us financial types is [Sea Launch] is essentially cheaper” than other launch options, says Bill Whitlow,a longtime Boeing watcher and portfolio manager for the Safeco Northwest Fund in Seattle.
In addition to Seattle-based Boeing, which owns a controlling 40 percent share of the project, the other partners are RSC Energia of Russia, KB Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash of Ukraine and Kvaerner Maritime of Norway.
If all goes smoothly, the outlook for Sea Launch is promising. The company hopes to launch its first “live” payload, a Hughes Electronics-built satellite, in August. And the company already has contracts for 14 more launches, valued at around $50 to $60 million a piece according to analysts, scheduled for the next two to three years. |
